ENG: MaCu is an ambient project from Austria. What draws attention to it from the very beginning, is the fact that the person standing behind MaCu is a woman, Susanne Hafenscher. It pleases me a great deal that within this, after all, male-dominated genre we can still find such exceptions, especially since every time girls try their luck at dark ambient, some really good stuff see the light of the foggy day (for instance Artefactum, Allseits / Allsides, Lamia Vox). Susanne began her musical activity by playing the piano and the guitar, but soon she became aware that the area where she would fully realize her potential was isolationist ambient. “Retrospectives” contains a quite substantial dose of this music.

I must admit that at first listen, my attention drifted for a moment, and before I remembered that I had pressed the “play” button, four tracks had already ended. This type of ambient is incredibly subtle in its expression, as a lot of the activity takes place on the verge of hearing. However, if you pay full attention to the album you can derive plenty of interesting moments from it. It may not seem as obvious at first glance, but Susanne uses an extensive sound palette which isn’t limited to electronics, but also expands on field recordings, live instruments and human voice (probably her own). At the same time MaCu creates an incredibly stifling atmosphere – no shouting, no tons of rolling metal, or one hundred thousand choirs of screaming angels. Take the song No. 6 as an example, where through muffled drones and murmuring whispers flowing simultaneously, Susanne creates such an atmosphere, that I’m afraid to turn off the light. Then there is another layer sounding like a wailing of strings, everything starts to penetrate everything and finally silence prevails. The seventh track causes a sort of primal feeling at first, but in the end all disappears in entropic depths.

These two tracks may be the most beautiful segments of the disc, but I must admit that all of it is definitely worthy of your attention. You must remember however, that in order to fully experience the work of Susanne, you have to devote all your attention to this disc. Sit back in a chair, with a pair of good headphones on and let the music absorb you. If you play it just as a background it’s virtually invisible. I know, I know, it’s ambient music and if one wants to, this release can also be used in such a manner… But “Retrospectives” deserves more.